Plattekill man killed in Newburgh hunting incident

TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Police have identified the Plattekill man killed in a hunting incident in the Town of Newburgh Monday night as 48-year-old Timothy Evans.

Town of Newburgh Police Chief Michael Clancy said Evans was hunting deep in the woods west of Forest Road and north of Cronk Road, when he was shot in the shoulder area by fellow hunter and friend Guy Wensley, 39, of Plattekill.

The two men had been hunting together around 4:45 p.m. and separated. They were about 2,500 feet into the forest near the Ulster County line. Wensley shot Evans with a .243-caliber Remington 700 from roughly a distance of 70 to 90 yards.

Evans died by the time the first officer arrived. His body was removed five hours later after an investigation.

Clancy said that Wensley told authorities he thought he was shooting at a deer.

“He (Wensley) fires,” Clancy said. “Apparently the guy yells and he realizes that he just shot his buddy…He did have a scope on the rifle. No matter how you look at it, it is a tragedy.”

Clancy said the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed. Detectives will return to the scene on Tuesday, and consult with the Department of Environmental Conservation police.

“Our people will go up into the woods with the DEC and do some other work, see if there are any possible hunting violations,” Clancy said. “I will call it a hunting incident at this point. We don’t know what we have.

Clancy said an autopsy will likely be performed on Evans.

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